In Which Laura Encounters Far Too Much Fire
by Goddess of Swords
Summary: This is seriously one of the weirdest days Laura has ever had at Silas. And that's before they find the dragon. Danny/Laura


Silas University was weird. Everyone knew that. Laura liked it, usually. When the Alchemy Club didn't grow a fifteen foot tall shrub monster and subsequently lose all control of it, that is. She wasn't really a fan of shrub monsters. Especially when they were angry.

"OHMYGOD DANNY LOOK OUT!" Also, this? Not so much fun. The Summer Society apparently handled the majority of monster-related problems on campus – Silas Animal Control and Testing took care of some of the weirder ones – and by 'handled' Laura meant 'attacked with bows and arrows because that just makes _sense_ when you're dealing with a giant _shrub_'. The shrub-monster-thing had swung one of its many, many arms (because it needed to be a fucking _octopus_ in order to be complete, what even was that?) with the intent to turn Danny into a little redheaded puddle on the ground. Laura would prefer her girlfriend to not be a puddle. Although she would probably be a very cute puddle, all things considered.

One of the Summer Huntresses ran up to Danny as she dodged the flailing limb, giving her a… Laura wasn't sure what it was. It was a device of some kind that Danny was strapping on her back and raising to aim at the shrub-thing and- _oh._ So that's what it was. The shrub-thing was on fire now. Laura now knew what a flamethrower looked like. College really _was_ educational after all!

The shrub-thing shrieked once, horribly, and Laura wondered absently at the anatomy of artificial shrub-monsters. Did they have vocal cords like humans? Was it vibrating it's little plant vocal cords against each other to make that awful, awful noise? She glanced at the bonfire it had turned into. She supposed she would never know.

"Laura!" Danny loped over to her, flamethrower gone once more. "Come over here, some of the girls brought marshmallows. Want one?" She produced two arrows from her everpresent quiver, one already complete with marshmallow. Laura blinked, taken aback, then burst out laughing. The Boy Scouts could suck it, the Summer Society were the ones who were prepared for every eventuality.

She accepted the pre-marshmallowed arrow and linked arms with Danny, tipping her head back and smiling up at her girlfriend. The redhead beamed happily down at her and dropped a quick kiss on her lips, drawing back and flipping off the Huntresses who had started making exaggerated kissing noises from their spots around the shrubfire.

Before the duo could seat themselves a strange noise split the air. The girls paused, glancing at each other before looking around the quad. There was nothing overtly odd they could see, just the ultimate Frisbee team practicing below the clock tower and the earth mages summoning rain for their vegetable garden behind the dining hall. The noise came again, and Danny darted off with a triumphant cry, leaving Laura to scramble behind her and wonder just how the hell she had managed to pin down the exact location of the noise so damn fast.

Danny lunged behind a bush, arrow raised – the marshmallow that was still attached somewhat detracting from the intimidation of the pose – and stopped short. "What the-" She sounded baffled, which Laura had quickly learned was not a good sign at a Summer Society function. She ran to join her girlfriend, the clatter behind her cluing her in to the fact that the entire Society was arming themselves. Before she could get there, though, Danny emerged from behind the bush carrying what looked like… no. There was no way. Even for _Silas_ this was weird.

Danny was carrying a baby dragon.

It was tiny, but there was no mistaking it for anything else. Long neck, scales, wings, and that ubiquitous reptilian head – it was definitely a dragon. It was also the most adorable thing Laura had ever seen. Its eyes were gigantic as it peered up at Danny, making soft little sounds that Laura was sure meant that it was declaring its undying love for its new human. Then it sneezed, a jet of fire shot out of its mouth, and Danny's sleeve went up in flames.

Laura scrambled to get her jacket off, beating the flames out in just a few seconds. The dragon looked almost sheepish, nuzzling its snout against Danny's chest and cooing. Laura had to give her girlfriend credit, she had stayed fairly calm, not dropping the baby dragon nor shrieking even once (which is exactly what Laura would have done, in her position).

One of the Huntresses, a blonde named Alexia, stepped forward. "What is it, Danny? Should we kill it?"

Laura gasped, stepping between the Huntress and Danny. "You will do no such thing!" She turned to the dragon, scratching it delicately on one of its face-ridges. It hummed and squirmed, winding its tail around Danny's arm and puffing smoke from its nostrils. Laura made sure her jacket was close at hand and kept scratching.

Danny looked vaguely appalled. "Alexia, we are not killing it. Look at it, it's harmless." It sneezed again, and Laura managed to keep her from catching on fire at all this time. "Mostly."

The Society shifted around, looking uncertain. The ones in the front who could see the dragon all looked utterly enamored by it, so Danny was certain that her suggestion would go over well, in the long run. "We'll keep it. There's room at the lodge, it'll be fine there." When her Huntresses didn't look entirely convinced, she kept going. "Are there any other groups on campus that can say they have a dragon? Imagine the Zetas' faces. Imagine what the _Alchemy Club_ will think."

That convinced them. Laura had never gotten a straight answer as to why the Summer Society hated the Alchemy Club so much. Whenever she asked Danny, the girl had refused to answer, and her questions to the other Society members had left her with vague mutterings about playing with the basic forces of the universe and way too much paperwork after cleanup. Whatever the reason, it was enough for them to unanimously decide that the Summer Society was adopting a dragon.

She smiled. She had always enjoyed visiting the Society at their lodge in the Dalosian Grove in the North Forest, but this would make everything even more adorable. A thought occurred to her. "Hey, guys, what are you going to name-" She checked under its tail quickly. "-her?"

There was a moment of silence, and then all the Huntresses started shouting over each other. Danny gave her a betrayed look before joining in the melee.

The dragon sneezed again.


End file.
